A Divine Comedy or a Bloody Tragedy
by BreakInTheSaltLine
Summary: AU from "The Man Who Knew Too Much." The wall in Sam's head has shattered, and Dean makes one last desperate bid to save Cas. Their actions could lead to a war like nothing they've ever dealt with. Chapter One: "Cut the crap, Cas, and read my damn mind."


**Chapter One**

**Dean Winchester Makes Castiel Vomit**

"You can't imagine what it's like," Castiel said, as the light of a million million Purgatory souls faded around him. "They're all inside me. Millions upon millions of souls."

Dean, Bobby, Raphael, and Crowley uncovered their eyes. Bobby and Dean looked worried, and Raphael was downright terrified.

"Sounds sexy," said Crowley. "Exit stage Crowley."

He vanished, and Castiel responded with his trademark headtilt. He then turned his attention to Raphael.

"Now, what's the matter, Raphael? Somebody clip your wings?"

"Castiel, please. You let the demon go, but not your own brother?" Raphael backed up slowly, looking for a chance to either escape or to kill Cas with the archangel-killing blade in his/her hand.

"The demon I have plans for. You on the other hand..." Cas snapped his fingers, and Raphael exploded "like a water balloon of chunky soup."

"Cas?" said Dean, slowly approaching him.

"You see Dean?" Cas replied. "I was right. You doubted me, but in the end, I was right."

"Okay, Cas. Now it's time to power down."

"What do you mean?"

"Cas, this is too much power. It'll kill you, or you'll kill a lot of people. So come on, before the eclipse ends, put the souls back."

"No, Dean, the souls belong with me. Raphael had many followers, and there is still much work to do, in Heaven and Earth."

"Cas, the souls are scrambling your brain. Listen, we made not have ended things on the best of terms, but we're family. I've killed for you, and I've almost died for you. You're like a brother to me. You, Sam, and Bobby are all I've got. And I may have lost Sam, now that his wall is broken and all Hell has literally broken loose in his head. So, if that means anything to you, get rid of the souls."

"You're not my family, Dean. I have no family. Stand down."

Dean grabbed Castiel by his shoulders. "Cas, read my mind."

Bobby finally spoke up. "Dean, what the hell are you doing, son?"

For the first time since his Purgatory upgrade, emotion showed on Cas's face. Uncertainty.

"Dean, stand down, or..."

"Cut the crap, Cas, and read my damn mind." Dean grabbed the hair on the side of Cas's head and made him look into his eyes.

They both watched as Dean replayed some memories. Their first meeting in the barn. Fleeing from the "den of iniquity." Cas betraying his brothers for the Winchesters in the Green Room. The first time Bobby called Cas an idgit. The time Cas and the brothers sat on the hood of the Impala and just looked up at the stars, just days before the fateful events of Stull Cemetery. All the memories carried the same message: "It may be the dumbest mistake you ever made, Cas, but you're a Winchester."

Several emotions flashed across the angel's face: joy, shock, and guilt. Then, all of those emotions were overshadowed by a look of sheer agony.

Dean stood frozen in place, holding onto Castiel's shoulders for dear life, as a series of awful memories played in his mind. As a natural defense brought on by a pretty crappy childhood, he tried to push them back with better ones.

His dad's death. The first time he drove the Impala.

The whole building shook. The wall behind them cracked, and then tore apart as a portal to Purgatory opened up.

Jake Talley stabbing Sam in Cold Oaks. His first weekend with Lisa.

Cas started to glow blindingly bright. Black smoke seeped out of his skin.

His first victim in Hell. The time Ben accidentally called him "Dad." Man, his good memories sucked.

Dean collapsed to the floor. A huge blast of light flew from Castiel into the Purgatory door. Brilliant comets of light erupted from him and crashed through the walls and ceiling. Serpentine pillars of black smoke escaped through the vents and holes in the walls. Black goop surged from the angel's mouth, nose, ears,and eyes, then disappeared through drains in the floor.

Castiel collapsed to the floor beside Dean.

"Cas?" asked Dean, worriedly shaking him.

"Yes, Dean?" Cas said, spitting a little blood out of his mouth.

"Castiel Winchester, you bitch." Dean laughed.

Cas smiled. "Jerk."

"Idjits," Bobby said, facepalming.

"Assbutt."

The three battered men turned around to see Sam standing in the doorway.

Castiel chuckled. "Assbutt?"

* * *

The Impala raced down an empty road in the middle of nowhere. Dean took his eyes off the road and turned to Cas in the passenger seat.

"So, what the holy hell just happened?"

"I had the entire population of Purgatory contained within me. I basically had a wall around them. Then, you broke through my defenses and the souls forced their way out. I managed to send most back to Purgatory, but a lot of angels, demons, and leviathans escaped."

Bobby spoke up from the backseat. "Leviathans? That black snot?"

"Leviathans are the first beasts, outdating even angels. They are exceedingly powerful and nearly invincible. God made Purgatory as a way of locking them away."

"And what was with the mental beatdown you gave me?" asked Dean.

"When a Leviathan takes a host, they absorb all of that person's memories and knowledge. They used the link between us to do the same to you."

"So, how do you kill them?"

"I don't know. It may be impossible."

Dean looked back at Sam through the rearview mirror. "Sammy, you okay back there?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"How? Cas tore down the Great Wall of Sam. It's a miracle you can stand."

"I don't know. I can't remember anything."

Dean made a mental note to keep an eye on Sam, because something was _seriously_ wrong.

* * *

Zach Warren sat in his living room watching television. Above him, black smoke flew in through a vent and entered his mouth before he even knew what was happening. The demon formerly known as Brady examined his face in a mirror on the wall.

Zach's wife, Ella, called down from the bedroom upstairs. "Are you coming?"

"Zach" grabbed a steak knife off the kitchen counter. "Coming."

* * *

Richard Roman splashed his face with cold water. He was about to give yet another motivational speech. His assistant, Susan, knocked on the bathroom door.

"Mr. Roman, it's time."

"Please," he said, wiping a drop of black goop off of his lip and licking it off his finger. "Call me Dick."

* * *

An angelic light shown over an Indiana graveyard. This particular angel was quite skilled at raising the dead. He once brought the same guy back to life over one hundred times. Granted, he was the one that killed him.

His old vessel crawled out of his grave and looked up into the heavenly light. He answered the question before it was asked. It was all he knew.

"Yes."

Gabriel dusted himself off and vanished.


End file.
